Yes, Solo: A Star Wars Story topped the box office in its second weekend. However, it didn't hold itself together per se. The spin-off fell an alarming 65% in its second weekend to $29.3 million, for a $148.9 million gross in 10 days. While that might sound decent on paper, when you compare it to The Force Awakens earning that amount in a single weekend, you already know you're in trouble (it doesn't help that the film was projected to earn between $130 and $150 million over its' first weekend). Like I said before, this doesn't really reflect only audience fatigue necessarily. I think the combination of factors I mentioned in last week's post explains that. Overseas, Solo isn't getting bailed out, however. The overseas take is only at $115 million so far and its opened in most markets already (including China, where it has especially underwhelmed). On a very expensive budget, it's pretty much a sure thing that Disney will lose quite a bit of money on this one.Repeating in second place and faring far better was Deadpool 2. The R-rated sequel fell 46% in its third weekend to $23.3 million, for a very good $254.7 million pick-up in 17 days. At its current pace, the sequel looks like it probably will end up above $300 million. While that's short of the first Deadpool ($365 million), Fox should still not be complaining about the results here. It also continues to be an overseas smash, with the worldwide gross about to pass $600 million.
Meanwhile, as expected, the top new release of the weekend was true story romance thriller Adrift. Opening in third place, the results were $11.5 million (OK $3,818 per-venue average). That's a similar start to last year's 47 Meters Down ($11.2 million), and towards the low end of expectations (analysts were predicting between $10 and $15 million). The film did get pretty good reviews (71% on Rotten Tomatoes), while audiences were more mixed with a "B" CinemaScore grade. While females have competition next weekend from Oceans 8, date night audiences really have no other options coming up. So this could have decent holding power down the line. The film will likely need it as it was produced for $35 million (though distributor STX Entertainment acquired it for $10 million).Having a solid hold in its sixth weekend was Avengers: Infinity War. The ensemble blockbuster was off 40% to $10.4 million, for a huge $642.9 million pick-up in 42 days. Infinity War is currently on track for a finish around $670 million. It won't catch Black Panther (which will inch past $700 million in next couple weeks), but I honestly doubt Disney is complaining. Overseas, it had a strong hold, with the worldwide gross at an astounding $1.965 billion, with $2 billion looking likely at this point. Continuing to show strong holding power with its older audience, Book Club was off just 33% to $6.8 million, for a very good $47.3 million gross in 17 days with more to go.
Opening in sixth place with better than expected results was the modern horror thriller Upgrade. Despite seemingly little awareness, the Blumhouse flick managed $4.5 million (OK $3,060 per-venue average from just 1,457 locations). Many were thinking $2.5 to $3 million for this one, and even I thought that was generous. It's pretty likely that the very positive reviews from critics (85% on Rotten Tomatoes plus a SXSW Festival premiere back in March) gave this one a bit of a boost. On a low budget between $3 and $5 million, this could wind up in the black for distributor BH Tilt (this was its' second-biggest debut behind The Darkness' $5 million start).
Life of the Party continued its late in the game stability, off 36% to $3.5 million, for an OK $46.3 million gross in 24 days, on its way to around $55 million, among the lowest-grossing efforts for Melissa McCarthy. Fellow Mother's Day Weekend release Breaking in followed with a 34% slide to $2.8 million. The suspense thriller has earned a very successful $41.3 million in the same amount of time, especially against just a $6 million pricetag.
Opening in ninth place with worse-than-expected results was the latest Johnny Knoxville flick, Action Point. With hardly any buzz or awareness (despite some marketing), the R-rated comedy only managed to scrounge up $2.3 million from 2,032 locations (miserable $1,139 per-venue average), one of the worst debuts ever for a wide release. Distributor Paramount originally scheduled this for a Spring debut, but moved it back as there was little to no confidence in the pic apparently. The budget was $19 million, which means money will likely be lost here.
Rounding out the Top 10 in its fifth weekend was the Overboard remake, which was off 37% to $2 million. The remake of the 80's cult classic has earned a very good $45.5 million in one month of release.
That's about it. Next weekend, things should start to heat back up a little as the female-led reboot of Oceans 8 looks to capture the box office crown next weekend. A few other buzzy titles are also looking to make a splash. Crime thriller Hotel Artemis, horror flick Hereditary and Fred Rogers documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? It will be an interesting weekend as we get ready to head into more heavyweights as the month continues on. Look for a predictions post on Thursday. :)
